The Haldex Group chose the city to consolidate all business activities in South America

The Swedish group Haldex has chosen São José dos Campos to consolidate its activities in South America. In March, the company completed its project of transferring the sales unit in São Paulo and the industrial units in Rio de Janeiro and Flores da Cunha (Rio Grande do Sul) to the city. With the transfer, the company intends to gain agility and optimize the logistics and transportation costs.

“We decided to centralize Haldex operations in São José dos Campos due to the privileged logistics in the region, since the city has access to the main highways of the country. In addition, the region also has skilled labor in the automotive sector,” says the Vice President of Haldex in Brazil, Göran Jarl.

The company was supported by Investe SP, which worked in partnership with the Trade Board of Sweden, contributing with information about the business environment in the state, market data and skilled labor in the region of Vale do Paraíba. “The company’s decision to invest in São José dos Campos reveals how the human capital has become an important competitive factor,” says the president of Investe SP, Luciano Almeida. “Cities such as São José dos Campos, with skilled workforce, become more attractive to investors,” says Almeida.

The plant of Haldex is installed in the industrial district of Chácara Reunidas and has a built area of 4.2 square meters. Currently, 150 employees work at the unit. The company develops and produces brake and suspension systems for heavy-duty vehicles (trucks, tow trucks and buses) and is strengthening its presence in Brazil. According to Jarl, the expectation is that the operating area of Haldex significantly increases over the upcoming years due to the requirement that by 2014 all new vehicles produced in Brazil include ABS (Anti-Blocker System) in the brakes as a default feature.